RYM in Estes Park, Colorado - Part 1

This past week, Richie was the speaker at RYM (a senior high youth camp) in Estes Park, Colorado. The kids and I tagged along for a summer vacation, and we had a wonderful time. The conference was held at the YMCA of the Rockies.  It was a great facility with so many fun things for families to do.  Richie spoke each night, and prepared each afternoon, so we had time to enjoy the mornings together as a family.




On Tuesday, the day after we arrived, we went on a hike to Nymph Lake, Dream Lake and Emerald Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park.  It was a beautiful hike, and it was very "do-able" for families at 3.6 miles round trip.  The kids were so shocked that there was snow on the ground in June!



















We also took the short hike (less than 1 mile) around Bear Lake which was accessible from the same trail head.  It had the best view of Long's Peak.


That afternoon the kids all took a Little Explorers hiking class and an Animal Detectives class at the YMCA.

On Wednesday, we drove half of the Trail Ridge Road drive.  It was very scenic, but also very very steep.  On our way down, we stopped for a park ranger class at Hidden Valley about nocturnal animals.  All of the employees at the park were exceptional, and they really took time to answer all of our family's questions.  We saw lots of elk, a coyote and mule deer on Wednesday.  Griffin was very eager to spot a bighorn sheep too, but so far we hadn't seen one.


















In the afternoon Margaret took an insects class and Griffin took a basketball class at the YMCA.  Mamie went horseback riding on the YMCA trails with some of the other RYM staff kids.





To be continued...